Mafia Chess

[mswas]

This is a chess variant that I made up that drastically changes the rules of the game. The difference revolves around the pawns, or 'civilians' if you will.

The pawns start out uncontrolled on the center two lines of the board. A pawn can move in any direction forward or backward but can only kill on a diagonal.

To control a pawn you have to be able to kill it imminently. If you have that ability you can move that pawn into any space that is open to it.

Proxies This is what makes the game interesting. If you can coerce a pawn into doing your bidding, you can have it force another pawn to do your bidding as well. The chain of coercion can only go two steps. IE. Rook - Pawn - Pawn. That second pawn can of course kill if it is in a position to do so. Pawns of course can kill other pawns at any time.

What this variant does is it vies for positioning of the pawns. The strings of coercion can get confusing, so danger is even more subtle than it is in regular chess.

A couple interesting strategic concepts I've observed.

Tribal loyalty to your color pawns. Treat the same colored pawns as 'your people' and protect them.

Corporate loyalty to your pawns, they are independent contractors, all pawns are the same. There are no my pawns, your pawns, their pawns, they are all just pawns.

Get the King up a few lines on the board, surround him on every perpendicular, he controls four pawns giving him an area of control that covers about 1/3 of the board. If pawns come into his killzones he can get them to do whatever he wants on his turn.

Pawns can still be turned into other pieces if they reach the enemy's home row.

[Sir Dirx]

Sounds like a lot of fun! One quick question though: are there hierarchies of coercion? Such as, does a king's coercion of a pawn trump a rook's coercion of that same pawn? Or can either player control any pawn they're coercing regardless how many pieces of both players are affecting it?


Also, "coerce" and its many forms no longer register as real words anymore.

[mswas]

Originally Posted by Sir Dirx

Sounds like a lot of fun! One quick question though: are there hierarchies of coercion? Such as, does a king's coercion of a pawn trump a rook's coercion of that same pawn? Or can either player control any pawn they're coercing regardless how many pieces of both players are affecting it?


Also, "coerce" and its many forms no longer register as real words anymore.

Well it's turn based, so you are only coercing actively. You cannot coerce when it's not your turn. So no, there is no hierarchy of coercion.

I don't know what you mean by it not registering as a real word anymore.

[Inner Stickler]

Originally Posted by mswas

I don't know what you mean by it not registering as a real word anymore.

I think he means that he's written and read it so many times that it's starting to lose meaning to him. That's never happened to you?

[mswas]

Originally Posted by Inner Stickler

I think he means that he's written and read it so many times that it's starting to lose meaning to him. That's never happened to you?

Yes, I remember one seminal time when I was a child and that happened to me with the word, 'of'.